Given that the members of
TRW - Michael Thompson, John Robinson and Mark Williamson - are all ex MTB or Bridge Too Far, our reasonable expectation is an album of soft rockin' westcoast music.
A pleasant surprise then that many of these tracks have a dynamic, gutsy feel, with several songs constructed and performed within a robust guitar framework
That's not to say that all of these tracks fall outside expected parameters.
'
Hard Time Love' and '
Love Comes Calling' are real period pieces, high quality, thoroughly enjoyable anachronisms that'll go down well with a largely reactionary melodic rock fanbase.
But many more of these tracks have their roots in Midwestern American rock. Blue collar songs evoking dirt roads, juke box joints and wide open spaces.
Unlike Bon Jovi's recent desperate attempt at reinvention, they have a genuinely authentic ring. The band sound like they grew up driving pickup trucks, learning their trade in the county's barrooms and dance halls
The anthemic title track comes over like the Doobie Brothers facing up to Styx, full of hard rock guitars, glassy harmonies, clashing cymbals and bustling rhythms, with the trio, who also produced, applying only the minimum of polish.
'Hold On' falls between MrMister like adult orientation and The Eagles' urbane, countrified rock. '
Indiscretion's cranked up swagger and '
Alimony Blues' acoustic picking see the music veer way south of the Mason Dixon line on two, scenic, vastly satisfying journeys.
Killer cut (and every album should have one) is '
Only A Letter'. It opens with the swell of a subdued gospel choir, an interesting narrative drive and an unassuming melody, but the gear change down into a heavily romanticised hook is breathtaking. It's vaguely reminiscent in face and form to John Waite's 'Missing You'. One of those great melodic rock songs that crafts a simple emotional truth onto a memorable hook, And in doing so, strikes a chord way down deep inside. Works for me.
It tops off a set that maybe doesn't quite live up to the legendary '
How Long', but it's a cracking little album just the same.
Written by
Brian Wednesday, July 18, 2007
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